I glanced at Walt and found he was watching me. He hadn’t really mentioned much about Wanderers’ life expectancy. He had said that we age less than a tenth as fast as ordinary men and from that I’d drawn my own conclusions about living for centuries. I could tell from Walt’s lack of response that Rowle was truthful.
I turned back to Rowle. “So we don’t live forever. To be young for a century and go out fighting sounds good enough to me, besides, Fate saved my life, I owe her.”
Rowle laughed, a harsh, degrading sound. “You’re showing your age, boy. That’s why Fate gets them young before they realize what their own mortally is. In another half century, I’ll bet you have a different outlook on life and death. Assuming you survive that long.”
He looked from me back to Walt. “I don’t need you on my side, Walt, but there are times when a partner would be helpful. I can offer you more than Fate ever could.”
“So you’re saying that your life is peaches and cream. No conflict, no strife, no fighting?”
“Nonsense. I didn’t say it was perfect. I do have the odd fight here and there, but nothing that I haven’t been able to handle. Fighting with me you’ll be fighting as a free man. You’ll pick your own fights and fight them on your own terms, not on the terms of that fickle female, Verðandi.”
Walt frowned and shook his head. “Not now, Rowle. Come back and see me in ten or twenty years. Maybe I’ll have a different answer then, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“I’d thought you’d be more mature by now, Walt. And you, boy, wouldn’t you like a better life than this?”
“I can’t think of a better life. We make a difference. That’s more than most people ever have,” I said.
“Well spoken,” Walt said. “There, you see, Rowle. You’ll get no defections today.”
“Well, you can’t say I didn’t offer.” He stood and stepped back from the table. Reaching into a pocket of his denim jacket, he drew a card and tossed it onto the table. “If you change your minds, burn that card. I’ll find you.”
CHAPTER 15
Cynthia donned my helmet and climbed on the back of Beast as I raised the kickstand and started the engine. The big Panhead twin growled to life. I dropped the transmission into gear as Cynthia’s hands tightened around my waist. We roared out of the police station’s lot and onto Bailey Cove, heading north.
Cynthia shouted directions as we climbed the mountain above Huntsville and turned off Governor’s Drive to the cooler air above the Tennessee River Valley.
The ride up the mountain wasn’t enough for Cynthia, and she directed me south toward Guntersville. We entered a broad valley of trees and farms.
Cynthia hugged me tightly. I felt her lips against the side of my neck. “Faster.”
I let Beast have the reins, and we roared down the road. Beast’s engine throbbed between our legs as the speedometer’s needle climbed toward the stops.
“Enough?” I called over my shoulder as we topped eighty.
“Faster!”
“As the lady wishes,” I said.
Her body pressed hard into my back, and as we topped a hundred, I felt her shudder. I heard her moan. Since she hadn’t cried uncle, I urged Beast on. Power poles blurred past us and the wind tore at us. I spoke a spell to augment Beast’s wards and the wind dropped to mere hurricane force. We passed a sign “dip,” and the road disappeared from beneath us for a second. Rubber met the road again a half dozen yards later with simultaneous screams from both tires and Cynthia.
We approached a pair of cars traveling somewhere around the speed limit, and Beast roared. He had the bit in his teeth and was enjoying himself. I settled for hanging on as we passed between the vehicles at a speed that would have made the Road Runner proud. Cynthia shuddered again and I was afraid I was scaring her; then she moaned again. No, she wasn’t afraid.
Our passage sent horses galloping through fields and left dogs howling in our wake.
Sooner than I wanted to stop, we passed a sign proclaiming the approach of a traffic light.
I spoke a command of restraint. Beast roared in disappointment, but he surrendered control as bidden. I let the heavy bike slow until the speedometer began to register again. The light was green, but traffic was still bunched up behind the intersection. I braked hard and we fell in behind the line of cars.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Okay?” Her voice was incredulous, and she clung to me with incredible strength.
“Yes, okay, as in still sane. Was it too much?”
“No, it...it was fantastic. I had no idea riding a motorcycle could be so much, so much…”
“Like riding a six-hundred-pound vibrator?” I finished.
“Oh, my God, yes. How did you know?”
“I’ve heard it said before.”
She loosened her grip and punched my shoulder. “Cad.”
We followed the causeway and crossed over a portion of the lake. Speedboats, bass boats, and even a few sailboats dotted the waters around us.
Her lips brushed my neck again as she spoke. “You take all your girls for rides like that?”
“Like that? No, usually I keep it down around the speed limit, but you wanted speed, and I thought I’d give it to you.”
Her hug tightened again. “And you did. I can’t believe...it was so…”
“Fast?” I ventured.
“No, orgasmic.”
I had to chuckle. Beast chuckled with me.
“What was that?” Cynthia asked.
“What?”
“That noise your bike made. It was almost like it was laughing with you.”
I cleared my throat. “That was me tickling the throttle as I laughed. If you do it just right it can sound like a chuckle.”
“Are you making fun of me?” she asked.
“No, I’m just glad you enjoyed the ride.”
“Twice.”
“Really?”
Her breath tickled the short hairs on my nape and then I felt her lips against my skin. “Perhaps we should go back to my place. I’d like to show you just how much I enjoyed the ride.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“But we can’t just yet.”
“Something wrong?” I asked.
“I promised Cris we’d meet her for the Burritt on the Mountain concert tonight.”
“The what?”
“It’s an open-air concert above the city lights at Burritt Museum. Tonight there’s a Celtic duo playing.”
“Sounds like fun. When does it start?” I asked.
“About dark. We’ll have to head back soon.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“Well, a little. I wasn’t thinking of what riding this Beast of yours would be like when I told her we’d meet them.”
“Understandable. You said them?”
“The guy she was with last night. He’s someone she used to know in college and he’s just here for the week. Cris said she didn’t feel right leaving him alone.”
I didn’t respond. I hadn’t liked the idea of sitting between the cousins while they had a chance to talk about me. It couldn’t lead to any desirable outcome, but with the other guy there the girls should be more circumspect. At least I hoped they would be.
Cynthia pointed over my shoulder at a Dairy Queen between the lake and the highway. “Let’s get some ice cream.”
I pulled over and parked Beast in the shade of a sycamore. Cynthia and I walked to an outside window and ordered ice cream cones. While we ate them, we strolled along the shoreline behind the Dairy Queen.
“You still haven’t told me much about yourself,” Cynthia said.
I stopped to lean against a large rock that protruded into the water. “There’s not that much to tell. I grew up in Colorado. I spent a little time wandering around after my parent’s death and then settled in with an old Ute medicine man who taught me most of what I know about magic. Other than that, my life has been pretty typical.”
“It hardly seems
typical. I don’t think you even have a cell.”
I grinned. “Busted there. I don’t know that many people and haven’t found a reason to carry one.”
“So you don’t call this old Ute mentor of yours?”
“Walt? No, he’s passed on.”
“Your Ute medicine man was named Walt? That doesn’t sound very Native American,” Cynthia said with a touch of doubt.
“Ah now, there are a lot of Native Americans with modern names,” I said with a grin.
She continued to look doubtful but went back to finishing her cone without another comment. “We’d better start back soon. The early birds get the best seats.”
“There are bleachers?” I asked.
“No, just grass. But you want to be where you can see the city lights and the stage. Let’s go, but hold it down to the speed limit this time. I wouldn’t want you to get a speeding ticket just because you’re trying to entertain me.”
I laughed. “Is that what I was doing?”
She poked my arm playfully.
I made a slow u-turn at the next intersection and eased down on the throttle. Beast made a growl of displeasure at not being given the reins again.
“This Harley sounds different than the others I’ve heard,” Cynthia said.
Well, yeah, not many Harleys are possessed by a manticore.
“It’s an old Panhead. The sound is different from the modern bikes,” I lied. We slipped through the next intersection as the light was changing and hit the open road.
CHAPTER 16
We needn’t have rushed back; Cris and Daniel arrived before us and reserved a good spot on the grass by spreading out a large blanket. They had a small cooler and a well-crafted picnic basket. Daniel sat at the far end of the blanket with Cris leaning against him. He poured wine into Cris’s glass as we walked up.
“Getting an early start, Cuz?” Cynthia asked.
“Can’t listen to beautiful music beneath the stars without being mellow and since Daniel can’t smoke,” she made a toking motion with finger and thumb against her lips, “we’ll have to make do with wine. You ready for some?”
We agreed we were ready.
Cynthia sat down beside Cris and I sat at the near end of the blanket. Cris took a couple more glasses from the basket and Daniel filled each in turn.
“To new friends,” Cris said as she leaned across and tapped my glass with hers. Cynthia and Daniel also clinked my glass and we sipped the chardonnay.
A couple of musicians were setting up on a large gazebo forty feet from where we sat on the grounds of the Burritt Hilltop Museum. They were casually dressed, about what you’d expect from a Celtic duo, but given the elaborate nature of the museum, I expected ladies in long dresses and men with tails. I glanced around the gathering crowd and found an eclectic selection of apparel. Everything from formal eveningwear to jeans and tee shirts was visible. The museum itself was a little more sophisticated than I expected to encounter on a mountaintop in Alabama. I know, it sounds condescending, but I hadn’t been through the state in more than a decade.
When I turned my attention back to our little group, I caught Cris eying Cynthia. For her part, Cynthia was trying to evade her cousin’s direct stare. But after a minute, Cynthia surrendered to the inevitable.
A slow smile crept across Cris’s face, and she shifted her gaze to me. “Well, Cynthia, what have you and Rafe been up to?”
“We took a ride.” Cynthia leaned into me.
I raised an arm to encompass her waist and acted as if I wasn’t listening.
“A ride?”
“Yes, on Rafe’s Harley.”
“You’ve got a Harley?” Daniel asked. “What model?”
“A ‘65 Panhead,” I answered.
“I’ve heard that Harley’s have a lot of vibration that the Japanese imports don’t have,” Cris said while pointedly staring at Cynthia.
The back of Cynthia’s neck reddened. I kissed her nape.
“I wouldn’t know,” Cynthia said as her fingers slid up my arm and against the back of my head. She pulled me tighter against her.
“A ‘65 Panhead? No way! Man, that’s like classic. Where’d you find it?” Daniel asked excitement in his voice.
Daniel hadn’t struck me as a Harley enthusiast, but they pop up where you least expect them. I kissed Cynthia’s neck once more and breathed softly in her ear before turning back to Daniel. “It was my father’s. He left it to me.”
“Sorry about your dad, man,” Daniel stared down at his glass for a moment, but then looked back up almost hurriedly. “Ah, could I see your bike?”
“Daniel, we’re not here to scope out Raphael’s motorcycle,” Cris said sliding her hand up his thigh.
Daniel’s head snapped around to face Cris and she kissed him. It lasted for more than a few seconds and I thought someone needed to get a room when Daniel broke it off.
The boy was almost stammering as he leaned away from Cris. “Ah, we’ve got time. They’re still setting up.”
Cris smiled and nodded. “Sure, go ahead. I want to ask Cyn more about that ride they took.”
Cynthia giggled. “I’ll bet you do.”
Cynthia pulled my face back to hers and kissed me longer and deeper than Cris had kissed Daniel, but Cynthia broke our kiss. She gazed at me for a moment, and then gave me a quick peck on the lips. “Just don’t be too long, Rafe. It’s rude to walk in after the concert starts.”
She leaned off me and I stood. Daniel was already on his feet, eager to see the Hog. I handed my glass to Cynthia. She poured its remaining contents into her glass and leaning toward Cris, the two women began a whispered conversation. I resisted the urge to activate my senses tat and listen in.
Daniel kept up a steady stream of questions about the differences between the old Panhead, pre-AMF Harleys, and the modern generation while we walked down the path to the parking lot. I answered where I could, but I didn’t know much about new Harleys. My father had been the fanatic biker who knew everything there was to know about the operation and maintenance of any Harley. He taught me everything he could, but after his death and my change, I didn’t have the enthusiasm to keep up with anything other than Beast.
The crowd was still coming in, but the parking lot was full, and they had to park along the road as we reached Beast. Overhead, the stars were just coming out, and a couple of the parking lot lights were flickering into life. Beast, the only Harley in a sea of luxury cars, dropped his wards as we approached.
Daniel made oohing and ahhing sounds as he admired the finish and ran his hand across the still-warm headers. I felt a subsonic growl from Beast and mentally issued a calm down order. Manticores abhor strangers handling them; in his true form, Beast would have taken Daniel’s hand off, and probably most of his arm.
I felt a thrum of power shoot through the ether. It coincided with a cold wave like the one I’d felt the previous evening. It was farther away, but I knew it was another summoning.
“Daniel, I hate to cut this short, but I just remembered an errand I have to run.”
“Dude, Cynthia isn’t going to like that.”
“Sorry, can’t be helped.” I put the key in the ignition and hit the starter. Beast awoke fully with a growl. “Tell Cynthia I’ll be back as soon as possible. I shouldn’t be long.”
“I’ll never complain about entertaining two beautiful women. Take your time; I’ll make sure they’re not bored.”
I had a momentary urge to slap that cocky grin off his face, but there was no time. I dropped the transmission into gear, and he leapt back as I roared off past the glares of startled concertgoers hurrying out of my path.
CHAPTER 17
The summoning was a few miles to the northeast. Beast also felt the summoning and could home in on the signal better than I could. I gave control of our path and speed to Beast and prepared myself mentally. We bolted down residential streets and roads, passing anything in our way regardless of oncoming traffic. Beast had proven himself far bette
r than I at dodging vehicles at breakneck speeds.
The previous night I’d gone after the mage first and then been forced to deal with the fire demon while the mage escaped. I didn’t see another way around that. His sacrifices were building up power. I had no idea what he was planning for that much power, but I had to make damn sure he never got a chance to use it. Blood sacrifices hold power; the greater the sacrifice, the greater the result. I’d only encountered one other case of multiple sacrifices and the witch had given me a rough time before I killed her. I never did learn her motivation for the sacrifices, the fact that she was performing them was enough reason to end her life. Now I wondered if I should have done more research. It might have helped me figure out what was going on now.
We entered some kind of state park without Beast slowing. There were ball diamonds, soccer fields, picnic areas, fishing streams, and walking trails. We shot across a soccer field and between posts set to keep vehicles off the trail. Beast kept to the center of the path, but still had to slow to avoid the branches that slapped against his shield. Without the shield, I’d have been knocked from my perch by the first one.
We splashed through a wide stream, throwing water in every direction and entered a glade. The scene before us was similar to the previous night except that this glade was more of a manicured lawn. Two figures dressed in dark robes stood in the middle of the meadow. As we rode toward them, the spell finished with a snap of energy and a creature appeared beside the couple. It was a squat thing of rough edges and nondescript characteristics. I’d already enhanced my vision, but the demon’s features were difficult to decipher.
Beast slid to a stop, fighting distance from the demon, and I leapt to the ground. While Beast motored back to the edge of the glade, the demon turned toward me.
One of the figures dropped its robe and I could see ivory skin in the moonlight. I recognized the nude woman from the first meeting at the Nuevo Retro. It was Marsha Bering, one of the college girls in the coven.
“No!” I screamed and raised my left hand as I triggered a pattern of tats that glowed golden when I held all four fingers tightly together and focused energy on them.
Wanderers: Ragnarök Page 16
